Number or letter assembly device



z Feb. 29, 1944. E. A. CROSBY NUMBER OR LETTER ASSEMBLY DEVICE Filed Jan. 5, 1942' 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Feb. 29, 1944. E` A CROSBY NUMBER 0R LETTER ASSEMBLY DEVICE 2 shets-shee't 2 Filed Jan. 5, 1942 Patented Feb. 29, 1944 UNITED l STATS yPTENT OFFICE 6 Claims.

This invention relates to a structure, system, or method of assembling and holding letters, numbers, designs, symbols or other characters. Letters, numbers or combinations thereof are now used in many places to designate various` objects and are used in many places and for many articles such as automobile license plates, house numbers, street signs, name plates for olces, institutions, estates, railway cars, etc. Where a large number of similar signs or plates are to be used it is desirable to have a structure of neat and pleasing appearance in which the desired combinations can be easily and quickly secured and assembled in one unit and the assembly maintained in proper and permanent position.

It is an object of this invention to provide an extremely simple and eicient assembly of numbers, letters, etcQWhich can be easily and quickly put together and which will be durable and securely held in assembled position.

It is another object of the invention to provide such an assembly comprising holder-plates and character-plates, the holder-plate being constructed and arranged to receive the characterplates so that the desired character-plates may be easily and quickly placed in position in the holder-plate, said plates having cooperating parts for holding the same in proper and assembled position. Said character-plates may carry one or more characters, either letters, numbers or symbols, and these may be of the same or different sizes.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a letter or number assembly device comprising a holder-plate which may have one or more panels of the same or different widths, the same having spaced offset portions provided with apertures together with a character-plate for each of said panels adapted to be moved through and received in said apertures respectively to bring said character-plates into parallel and engaging relation with the holder-plate and supported thereby so as to be held against movement therefrom.

It is more specifically an object of the invention to provide a letter and/or number assembly device comprising a Aholder-plate arranged to receive one or more character-plates, said holderplate having vertically spaced olfset portions with apertures therethrough, each character-plate which may carry one or more characters having an upper portion adapted to be moved through one of said apertures to bring said characterplate into parallel relation with said holder-plate,

said character-plate having a lower portion adapted to be received in the other of said aper` tures and having a supporting portion at its lower end adapted to be supported on the lower ofy said oifset portions, said plates further preferably having interfitting projecting portions for properly locating and holding the same.

It is still another object of the invention to provide such a structure as set forth in the preceding paragraph, said holder-plate having portions extending above and below said offset portions 'and provided with means by which said holder-plate can be attached to the supporting object, said holder-plate also preferably having an aperture therethrough Ibetween said oifset portions through which an implement may be inserted to separate said plates.

These and other objects and advantages of the 1 invention will be fully set forth in'the followingA description made in connection with the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the sevg f eral views and in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a holder-plate used;

Fig. 2 is a vertical centralsection through said holder-plate;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a character plate .,-used;

Fig. 4 is a central vertical section through said character-plate;

Fig. 5 is a perspective View of the assembled holder-plate and character-plate;

f Fig. 6 is a central vertical section through the assembly shown in Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a horizontal section taken substantially on line 1--7 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of an assembly comprising a plurality of character-plates;

Fig. 9 is a perspective view showing how the holder-plate and character-plate may be disassembled; and Y f Fig. 10 is a perspective view shovn'ng how'the y character-plate can 'be separated from the holder-plate, should said plates stick together.

Referring to the drawings, particularly Figs. l

to 7, a device is shown comprising a holder-plate I 3B. This plate maybe made of'metal such as steel or aluminum or of plastic or other suitable plate material. Member 30 has an intermediate portion of considerable extent which is preferably disposed substantially in one plane. At the ends of said portion said plate has portions Stia and 30h which are offset or extend at an angle to said intermediate portion. as illustrated, portions 30a and 30h extend substantially at right angles to the intermediate portion of holder-plate 30 and said plate has portions 3de and 36d which extend beyond portions 3fm and 3th downwardly and upwardly respectively and these portions are disposed in a plane parallel with or substantially parallel with said intermediate portion. Portion 30a is provided with an aperture 30e shown as in the form of a rectangular slot of rather narrow width, and this slot extends `from substantially the plane of said intermediate portion part way transversely of portion 30a. Another aperture 361 is provided and this is shown as of general rectangular form, the same extending downward for an appreciable distance from portion 30h in said intermediate portion and extending substantially the full width of portion 3% as shown in Fig. 2. The long dimension of aperture 3|Jf extends transversely of plate 30 and said aperture is of substantially the width of plate 33 between beads 302' later described. The intermediate portion of holder-plate 3|) is provided withv an aperture 30g disposed substantially centrallytransversely of said plate and in the upper portion of said plate. Holder-plate 30 is provided with. a recess between aperture 30g and portion 30a adjacent the latter, and while this recess could be variously made, in the embodiment of the invention illustrated it is made by pressing or embossing rearwardly a portion 38h. Said recess is elongated and tapers in depth forming a socket at one end. Holder-plate 3i) is also provided with forwardly extending ribs or beads 332' which extend parallel to and adjacent the side edges thereof and toA points adjacent portions 30a and 30h. While these ribs could be variousli7 formed, in the embodiment of the invention illustrated they are shown as pressed upwardly or embossed from the material of plate 30. Similar ribs or beads 307' extend adjacent the side and outer edges of portions 30C and 30d. Holes 30k are formed in the outer corner portions 3Go and 30d, said latter portions having rounded corners.

With the holder-plate 3G is used a characterplate 3| and like plate 3d this may also be made of suitable metal, plastic or other material. Plate 3| is of general rectangular shape and is of a width to be disposed between the ribs 353i on plate 30. Plate 3| will carry the desired number, letter, or's'ymbol, or a plurality thereof of the same or different sizes, and as shown in Fig. 3, the character 3 la illustrated is the numeral 3. Numeral 3 may be formed in any desired manner, but as illustrated, it is pressed upwardly from the material of plate 3| or embossed thereon. Plate 3| has a tongue 3|b shown as of general trapezoidal shape, at its lower end, the sides thereof converging toward its bottom and said tongue is of less width than the plate 3|, thus forming shouldersV tlc` at either side thereof. A short distance belovir character 3|c1. plate 3| is provided with a rearwardly extending projection Bld and while this might be variously formed, in the embodiment of the. invention illustrated it is of substantially semi-spherical shape and formed by pressing the material of plate 3l rearwardly. Plate 3| is provided adjacent its upper end and centrally thereof with a hole 3|c. It may be mentioned that opening 3llf in plate 35 is of sufficient width to receive plate 3|.

To assemble the device, plate 3| is disposed in front of holder-plate 39 and the upper end of plate`3| is passed through opening 33j. When the bottom of tongue 3H; is disposed above the ledge 30a plate 3| can be moved into position substantially parallel with and in engagement with the intermediate portion of plate 30. Plate 3l will then be moved downwardly and tongue 3th moved into the aperture 35e. The downward movement will be continued until shoulders 3io engage portion 30a at the sides of openings 33e. At this time the projection 3|d will move into and be received in and disposed in the recess 3th as shown in Fig. 6. This projection 3| d and recess Sh thus denitely locate plate 3| and prevent any lateral movement thereof. A screw driver or other suitable implement may be used to push the character-plate into position if desired or found convenient. Inter-fitting portions 3|d and 3th prevent plate 3| from falling out 0I plate 3E! should the device be inverted. The character-plate preferably should fit rather snugly between beads Sti or 35i and 35o. With the device thus assembled as shown in Fig. 6, it can be secured to the desired object 32 and against the surface thereof by fastening means extending through the holes 30k. It will be seen that with the holder-plate and character-plate so assembled and attached that a very compact structure is provided and one in which the characterplate is locked in the holder-plate and cannot be removed.

The holder-plate 3i! may be used as shown in Fig. 1, and in such case the portions 30o and 38d may be flexed sufficiently by the holding means as to bring the upper and lower edges thereof into Contact with the surface against which the device is secured. Ii desired, these portions 33e and 36d could be so disposed or bent before the holder-plate is attached.

It will be understood that the holder-plate may be constructed to hold one or more character-plates. In Fig. S a holder-plate 35 is shown which is similar in construction to holder-plate ,33, except that it has three openings similar to opening 30e and three openings similar to opening 3M. Said plate 35 has the portions or ledges 35a and 35h as described in connection with Figs. l and 2. The ribs or beads 35i and 357` are similar to the beads 3Dz' and 30j as shown in Fig. l and holder-plate 35 is also provided with the holes 351e for the attaching means. Preferably the holder-plate 35 will have ribs or beads 35o between the character-plates 3| disposed therein. It will be obvious that the character-plates 3| will be assembled in holder-plate 35 in the manner` already described.

yShould it be desired to disassemble the device at any time for changing the characters or other purpose, the attaching screws will be removed. The character-plate will then be exposed at the rear of the device and the same can be pushed upwardly by engaging the bottom of tongue Sib. This may be done by hand but can also conveniently be done with any suitable implement such as a screwdriver 36 shown in Fig. 9. The character-plate can usually be easily removed without any implement but if it should. stick or be diiiicult to remove, it can be pushed forwardly by inserting a suitable implement such as a screwdriver 36 in the opening 3|lg in the holderplate as shown in Fig. 10.

The hole 3|c is provided in the character-plate so that these plates can be conveniently disposed on suitable brackets.

From the above description it will be seen that I have provided a distinct sign or number and/ or letter assembly which can be made of very ornamental and pleasing appearance and one which can be easily and conveniently supplied and assembled. The dea-ler or other person' handling the device can have the necessary charactersuch as numbers, letters, symbols, etc., of the same or of different sizes. Thus designations such as A and A-I may be used. It will be seen that designations of the form AA, BB or I-23 may readily be formed. Said characters can be integral with, secured to or detachable from the character-plate. If desired, glue or cement can be supplied to the engaging surfaces of the holder plate and number plate so that the latter will be more securely held in place and more strength given to the assembly. It will be obvious that the device can be made of a size to suit the particular installation. The device is particularly adapted for automobile license plates, telephone or telegraph pole numbers, house numbers, -street signs, name plates for offices, estates o-r institutions and for railway cars or other vehicles. The device can also be eiiiciently used as name plates yfor some articles of commerce where it is desired to have a serial number. The invention also has great utility in constructing many business or commercial signs. The characters on the character-plates can be painted or coated as desired and the surface of the holder-plate will be suitably painted, enamelled or coated to give a pleasing and durable effect. The device can be easily and inexpensively produced. The structure is designed and admirably suited for mass production. The device has been amply demonstrated in actual practice and found to be very successful and eiiicient.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made in the form, details, arrangement and proportions of the parts, without departing from the scope of applicants invention, which generally stated, consists in a device capable of carrying out the objects above set forth, in the parts and combinations of parts disclosed and defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A number and/ or letter assembly device having in combination, a holder-plate having an intermediate portion, end portions offset from said intermediate portion to lie in planes substantially parallel thereto and connecting portions between said intermediate and end portions extending substantially at right angles to said portions, said plate having an opening extending through the upper connecting portion and extending down into said intermediate portion, said plate also having a slot through the lower of said connecting portions, a rigid character-plate of longer dimension than said intermediate portion and having a rectangular upper end insertible through said opening, said opening being longer than the full width of said character-plate so that said characterplate can be positioned to extend at an angle to the plane of said intermediate portion, said character-plate having a tongue at its lower end of reduced width forming shoulders so that said character-plate can be swung into parallel relation to said intermediate portion and then lowered to locate said tongue in said slot whereby said character-plate is supported on said lower` connecting portion by said shoulders, said intermediate portion and character-plate having intertting portions pressed therein disposed adjacent said lower intermediate portion.

2. A number and/or letter assembly device havingin combination, a holder plate having an intermediate'portion, end portions offset from said intermediate portion to lie in planes substantially parallel thereto and connecting portions ybetween said intermediate and end portions extending substantially at right angles to said portions, said plate having an opening extending through the upper connecting portion and extending down into said intermediate portion, said plate also having a slot through the lower of said connecting portions, a rigid character-plate of longer dimension than said intermediate portion and having a rectangular upper end insertible through said opening, said opening being longer than the full width of said character-plate so that said character-plate can be positioned to extend at an angle to the plane of said intermediate portion, said character-plate having a tongue at itsY lower end of reduced width forming shoulders so i that said character-plate can be swung into parallel relation to'said intermediate portion and then lowered to locate said tongue in said slot whereby said character-plate is supported on said lower connecting portion by said shoulders, said intermediate portion having parallel ribs upstanding therefrom adjacent its edges and throughout substantially its whole length, said character-plate fitting between said ribs.

3. A number and /or letter assembly device having in combination, a holder-plate having an intermediate portion, end portions offset from said intermediate portion to lie in planes substantially parallel thereto and connecting portions between said intermediate and end portions extending substantially at right angles to said portions, said plate having an opening extending through the upper connecting portion and extending down into said intermediate portion, said plate also having a slot through the lower of said connecting portions, a rigid character-plate of longer dimension than said intermediate portion and having a rectangular upper end insertible through said opening, said opening being longer than the full width of said character-plate so that said characterplate can be positioned to extend at an angle to the plane of said intermediate portion, said character-plate having a tongue at its lower end of reduced width forming shoulders so that said character-plate can be swung into parallel relation to said intermediate portion and then lowered to locate said tongue in said slot whereby said character-plate is supported on said lower connecting portion by said shoulders, said intermediate portion having an opening therethrough through which an implement may be passed to push against said character-plate after the latter is raised to swing the same away from said holder-plate.

4. A number and /or letter assembly device having in combination, a holder plate having a plurality of laterally spaced panel parts, each of said parts havin-g vertically spaced outwardly extending portions having apertures therethrough, the apertures in the upper of said portions extending through said plate below said upper portions respectively, said plate having upstanding ribs adjacent each side thereof and between each of said panel parts, said ribs dening said parts, a rigid character-plate for each of said panel parts disposed substantially in one plane, said character-plates being adapted to be moved upwardly bodily through the apertures in said upper portions of said holder-plate respectively so as to extend at an angle thereto and having tongues at their lower ends adapted to be received in the apertures in said lower portions of said holder plate respectively when said character-plates are lowered and brought into parallel relation to and closely adjacent said holder plate, said characterplates having shoulders at each side of said tongues adapted to be supported on the lower of said portions respectively, said character-plates being disposed respectively between said ribs.

5. A number and /or letter assembly device, having in combination, a holder plate having spaced portions disposed in planes at an angle to the part of said plate between said portions, said plate extending beyond said portions, said spaced portions having apertures therethrough, the aperture in one of said portions extending into said plate between said portions, a rigid character plate constructed to carry one or more characters, the same having a body of such width that it may be freely moved through the aperture in said one portion and having an end portion of reduced width with shoulders at the sides thereof, said portion of reduced width being receivable in the aperture in the other of said spaced portions of said holding plate so that said character plate may be disposed at an angle to said holder plate, extending therethrough and then be swung into parallel and substantially contacting relation to said holder plate and held from outward movement thereby.

6. A number and/ or letter assembly device having in combination, a holder-plate having an intermediate portion, end portions offset from said intermediate portion to lie in planes substantially parallel thereto and connecting portions between said intermediate and end portions extending substantially at right angles to said portions, said plate having an opening extending through the upper connecting portion and extending down into said intermediate portion, said plate also having a slot through the lower of said connecting portions, a rigid character-plate of longer dimension than said intermediate portion and having a rectangular upper end insertible through said opening, said opening being longer than the full width of said character-plate so that said character-plate can be positioned to extend at an angle to the plane of said intermediate portion, said character-plate having a tongue at its lower end of reduced width forming shoulders so that said character-plate can be swung into parallel relation to said intermediate portion and then lowered to locate said tongue in said slot whereby said character-plate is supported on said lower connecting portion by said shoulders.

EDWARD A. CROSBY. 

